Steroid hormones are a group of hormones that regulate diverse physiological and pathological processes, including immune response, energy homeostasis, sexual maturation and cancer progression. They enter target cells and bind to intracellular nuclear receptors, which then function as transcription factors and regulate gene expression in the nucleus. Steroid hormones are lipophilic, and are generally believed to enter cells by simple diffusion across the lipid bilayer.
There is interest in controlling the effects of steroid hormones, for example to regulate insect growth, to control inflammation, for hormone replacement therapy, or for the treatment of certain cancers. This is often done through the administration of synthetic or natural steroid hormones or steroid hormone antagonists to a subject. However, the administration of steroid hormones or steroid hormone antagonists often leads to unwanted side effects in the subject. Thus, what is desired in the art is methods to regulate the effect of steroid hormones and steroid hormone signaling in organisms, such as arthropods and humans.